In communications cabinets and racks, a multitude of cables are interconnected to one another through connectors, e.g., adapters. A cable organization unit typically has a tray or a shelf or a similar platform, which supports the connectors, e.g., adapters. Examples of cable organization units include patch panels.
A patch panel houses cable connectors and in the majority of cases is rack-mounted. The patch panel typically is two-sided, where the front of the patch panel provides for connections to relatively short cables and the rear of the patch panel provides for connection to relatively long wires or cables. This setup facilitates the performance of temporary alterations to the front of the patch panel without disturbing the connections in the rear. Sometimes, the cables connected to the front of the patch panel may interconnect different patch panels and may be relatively short or may be a part of longer cables. The patch panel facilitates interconnecting, monitoring, and circuit testing of equipment without necessitating costly switching of equipment.
Early applications for patch panels were for telephone exchanges, where they are still used albeit in a more automated form. Patch panels are also used extensively in the entertainment industry, e.g., in recording and television studios. They are also used in concert halls to manage connections among equipment, e.g., microphones, speakers, and other electronic equipment. Patch panels are valued for such purposes not only for their convenience and relative cost effectiveness, but also because they make it easier to identify problems such as feedback, ground loops, and static.
Traditional fiber optic cable organization units include fiber optic shelves having a single patch panel or multiple modular panels on the front patching side of the shelf. Although the front-facing connections of the patch panel are typically exposed and easy to access, the rearward connections are typically stored within the organization unit. In order to access the rearward connection adapters, the patch panel is pulled proximally from the unit, and is typically pulled almost completely out of the unit in order to provide a technician sufficient space to properly configure, connect, or otherwise work with the cables therein. Accordingly, a relatively large free space must typically be reserved as a workspace proximate an organization unit in cable installations. Thus, it is desirable to provide communication patching systems allowing for improved access to both the front and back adapters of patch panels.
Furthermore, a plurality of patch panels may typically be provided in a housing which arranges the patch panels in vertical alignment through a support means such as a shelf. As a considerable number of cables may be connected to the front and rear adapters of each patch panel therein, the cables may become tangled and disorganized on both ends of the patch panels. As the cables connected to multiple patch panels become tangled with one another, individual patch panels may become difficult to pull from the housing. Additionally, the general disorganization of the cables may cause the differentiation of the cables of one patch panel from another to be unnecessarily troublesome. Thus, it is also desirable to provide communication patching systems allowing for improved organization of the cables connected to the plurality of patch panels provided in a system.